Paul Gottlieb, Longtime Publisher of Art Books, Dies at 67

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: June 6, 2002

Paul Gottlieb, the former publisher and editor in chief of Harry N. Abrams, who helped bring lavishly illustrated fine-art books to a mainstream audience, died yesterday at his home in New York. He was 67.

The apparent cause was a heart attack, according to his wife, Elisabeth Scharlatt.

Mr. Gottlieb retired in January 2001 as publisher, president and editor in chief of Harry N. Abrams while remaining vice chairman of its French parent company, La Martinière Groupe, and he recently resigned that post to become executive director of the small photography publisher Aperture. He was also recently named chairman of the Academy of American Poets.

But he is best known for his two decades as editor in chief of Harry N. Abrams. Previously a distinguished but small publisher of illustrated art books, Abrams, with Mr. Gottlieb's help, became the dominant art book publisher in the United States, more than doubling its revenue. Mr. Gottlieb saw the swelling ranks of college graduates, the growing attendance at art museum exhibitions and the spread of national bookstore chains. And he bet aggressively that there was a much larger potential market for expensive, high-quality art books outside museum boutiques and in bookstores nationwide.

''He understood that museums and universities were tremendous evangelical forces to get people interested in art, and they were real allies for a publisher,'' said Eric Himmel, Mr. Gottlieb's protégé and successor.

Mr. Gottlieb capitalized on the cultural cachet of renowned museums by bidding for the distribution rights to their exhibit catalogs, at one point making Abrams a co-publisher with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and the Whitney, among many others.

He pioneered strategies for turning the catalogs of well-known museum exhibitions into blockbusters, , beginning in 1983 with the catalog for ''The Vatican Collections: The Papacy and Art'' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Gottlieb is often credited with turning big, glossy catalogs into an essential part of a major museum exhibition. Many other publishers now bid aggressively against Abrams in auctions for the rights to publish them.

He developed a knack for publicity as well, turning the publication of a new book into an event. In 1986, for example, he agreed to publish a controversial collection of secret portraits by the artist Andrew Wyeth of a model named Helga and then arranged a companion show at the National Gallery in Washington. Mr. Wyeth's wife created a sensation when she said she did not know of his seeming obsession with Helga during the 15 years when he made the portraits and that he probably loved her. ''Andrew Wyeth: The Helga Pictures,'' published by Abrams in 1987, sold more than 500,000 copies.

Mr. Gottlieb even managed the unlikely trick of persuading the major mail-order book clubs to adopt expensive Abrams books. The Book-of-the-Month Club chose ''The Helga Pictures'' as the first art book to appear as a main selection. The Literary Guild chose as its first illustrated main selection ''The National Geographic Society: 100 Years of Adventure and Discovery,'' which was published by Abrams in 1987 and sold more than a million copies.

Mr. Gottlieb also developed a special relationship with the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The child of two immigrants from Russia, Mr. Gottlieb was fluent in Russian as well as French, and he became involved in helping the museum exploit its extensive collection. In 1995, Abrams published ''Hidden Treasures Revealed,'' which accompanied an exhibition of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art at the museum.

Mr. Gottlieb jokingly traced his interest in art to his birth just a few blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His mother, Liza Gottlieb, may also have played a role. She was a Russian translator who often took him to museums and passed along a love of literature.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his mother; his sister, Gail Seiden; two sons, Nicholas, of New York, and Andrew, of Los Angeles; a stepson, Nicholas Scharlatt, of New York; his first wife, Linda Gottlieb; and two granddaughters.

Mr. Gottlieb served two years in the Army before starting his career in the mailroom at the William Morris agency. In 1962, he joined the American Heritage Publishing Company, where he eventually worked as publisher of American Heritage magazine and, from 1970 to 1975, as president and publisher of the company.

Mr. Gottlieb had recently begun speaking publicly, in a Wall Street Journal article, for example, about a nearly crippling bout with depression more than two decades ago.

But he was known in the industry as a bon vivant with a vast network of connections. He was an imposing figure, 6 feet 5 inches tall with a ruddy complexion. On his desk he kept a sign with the French phrase translated as ''Let the Good Times Roll,'' and even in recent weeks could be seen drinking wine or a martini with lunch at the Union Square Cafe. Excessive partying once lead to a temporary leave from Swarthmore College before graduating in 1956, said his son, Nicholas Gottlieb.

''He would show up for class in his evening clothes,'' said his successor, Mr. Himmel. ''He would tell everyone that story.''